The railway transport in Poland can be carried out in two forms. Firstly as a public service, secondly commercially. The purpose of this article is to present the issue of open access, which gives the possibility of carrying out commercial rail transport on the basis of a decision issued by the President of the Office of Rail Transport. Currently, it can be a decision to grant open access and, more recently, a decision to grant limited open access. The article presents both constructions, with particular emphasis on new solutions introduced into the act on rail transport. These changes are the effect of adjusting Polish law to EU regulations. Their introduction can make it easier for carriers to start commercial operations. The article discusses the rules and the procedure for issuing decisions, as well as issues related to the appeal procedure, especially in the context of recent changes connected with the change of the civil procedure into administrative one. All solutions presented in the article have one goal. It is an improvement in the quality of services rendered in rail transport, also by increasing competitiveness in the rail transport segment.